Father of the Pride
Category:2004 television series debuts Category:2004 television series endings Category:2000s American animated television series Category:American television sitcoms Category:DreamWorks Animation television programs Category:NBC network shows Category:Satirical television programmes Category:Sky One programmes Category:Television series by CBS Paramount Television Category:Animated sitcoms Category:Television programs featuring anthropomorphic characters Category:Computer-animated television series Category:Television shows set in Nevada Father of the Pride is an American animated television series that began broadcasting on NBC on August 31, 2004 and was part of a short-lived trend of CGI series in prime-time network TV (after UPN's Game Over). The series, which was produced by Jeffrey Katzenberg and his company DreamWorks Animation, revolves around a family of white lions, the patriarch of which stars in a Siegfried & Roy show in Las Vegas. Despite heavy promotion, the show was unsuccessful and was canceled after one season. Transmission and production were also delayed by the real-life on-stage injury of Roy Horn. Contents hide * 1 Production ** 1.1 Opening sequence * 2 Series run on NBC * 3 International airings * 4 Cast ** 4.1 Major characters ** 4.2 Supporting characters * 5 Episode list and airdates * 6 Protest from the Parents Television Council * 7 Awards and nominations * 8 References * 9 External links Productionedit In 2002, Jeffrey Katzenberg came up with the idea for the series when he visited Siegfried & Roy's show in Las Vegas: "I thought, I wonder what it's like for those lions. What must life be like from their point of view? They're living in Las Vegas, trying to raise a family and earn a living. In animation, we look for those things — a way to look at our lives through a fantasy world. It allows us to take on subjects that are too difficult to do with real people. It allows us to be more controversial. Edgier. There can be parody and innuendo and satire. Things can be sophisticated in a way that even our feature films can't be."1 According to Katzenberg, the series was created for "an 18- to 49-year-old. It's not about checking to make sure you don't leave the 6-, 7- and 8-year-olds behind. This is purely an adult show."1 It cost an estimated $13 million and it took more than 200 animators two years to make the series.1 Computer animation was produced at Imagi Animation Studios,2 in Hong Kong.3 Father of the Pride employed a small group of seasoned directors which included Mark Risley, Bret Haaland, Steve Hickner, John Holmquist, John Stevenson, and Mark Baldo. Felix Ip served as creative director for Imagi. Long before its broadcast, the series was almost cancelled, following the near-death of Roy Horn in October 2003; but after his condition improved, both Siegfried and Roy urged NBC to continue production. Katzenberg recalled, "There was a short period of time where we all just rocked out on our heels and couldn't be particularly creative and certainly not very funny. But Siegfried kept saying, every step of the way, that this show meant so much to them. So much to Roy. Then, even more than it ever did."1 Opening sequenceedit The opening sequence starts off with a red sports car, with the Nevada license plate "MAGIC1", being driven by Siegfried and Roy past many of the attractions in Las Vegas. Cast names are presented on the marquees of the Strip hotels that, along with the Mirage, belonged to the MGM/Mirage Group at the time, before the car swerves into the Mirage Hotel. The scene then changes to the lions' house. Larry wakes up, late for his performance, on his favorite couch before dashing towards the stage (but not before having a beer given to him by Snack). Larry (voiced by John Goodman) sings a rendition of Elvis Presley's "Viva Las Vegas" as the background music throughout the title sequence. Series run on NBCedit The series was promoted heavily during NBC's coverage of the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece and garnered above average ratings for the network, but the show received a negative response from TV critics, who considered it to be little more than a gimmick and a shill for other NBC and DreamWorks properties (two early episodes extensively featured The Today Show's Matt Lauer and another featured Donkey - voiced by Eddie Murphy - from the DreamWorks movie Shrek and Shrek 2). Also, many TV critics noticed that the show's humor was very similar to South Park (one episode had a character say "Screw you guys, I'm going home!"). Siegfried and Roy's reaction was more positive: "They laughed. A lot. They kept asking us to create more contradiction. Literally, one's blond and one's dark, and every aspect of their life is as black and white as that. They are always playful with one another, always playing tricks on one another. They encouraged us to have fun with that," said Katzenberg.1 The show's ratings began to decline, and by November 2004 it was pulled from NBC's sweeps line-up.4 In early December 2004, the CEO of DreamWorks announced that the show was canceled, a few months after it was initially aired. A DVD version of the show has been made available, containing the original pilot, an alternate pilot (which draws heavily on the original), an un-aired episode, and one episode that was voice-recorded, but was not animated, and therefore remains at the storyboard stage. International airingsedit The series first broadcast on Sky1 in the United Kingdom on March 6, 2005. It was also repeated on Sky3. The show was originally on the Global Television Network and on Teletoon in Canada, RTÉ One inIreland (soon on RTE Two), MTV3 and Subtv in Finland, BTV in Bulgaria, NHK in Japan, Canal FOX in Latin America, vtm in Belgium, MediaCorp Channel 5 in Singapore, GMA Network in the Philippines,Telefé in Argentina, TV2 in New Zealand, ProSieben in Germany, TVN7 in Poland, Go! in Australia, and 2x2 in Russia. Castedit Major charactersedit Supporting charactersedit Episode list and airdatesedit Main article: List of Father of the Pride episodes Protest from the Parents Television Counciledit The Parents Television Council's launched a campaign against Father of the Pride. Reasons cited for their opposition were the aforementioned use of anthropomorphic animals and the use of "from the creators of Shrek" in their promotions. Shrek was a much more family-friendly movie than this series, which the PTC used as an example, stating that Father of the Pride could inadvertently draw the wrong audience. Their campaign led to over 11,000 complaints to the Federal Communications Commission.6 In March 2006, the FCC ruled that the show was not indecent.7 Awards and nominationsedit Father of the Pride won an Annie Award in 2005 and it was nominated for a People's Choice Award in 2005.